Letter to the Editor: Don’t rely on social media for political news

A recent letter writer complains about all the negative political ads they are seeing. I agree. Every four years we are inundated with these ads and of course many of them are negative. Are they all lies? Some are, and it’s not just one side that is guilty of stretching the truth. I suppose who you believe depends on a couple things. One is which political party you support. The other is where you get your news and information. If you are relying on social media for your political opinions and news, you are taking a great risk. Most sites are run by unvetted and irresponsible randoms who just regurgitate misinformation, lies and conspiracies because that is what gets clicks and shares. Don’t encourage those folks.

I would hope that by now most folks would realize that political ads are just self-serving, designed to appeal to those who know nothing about the candidates and haven’t been paying attention at all. If you’re relying on political ads to decide who to vote for, then you aren’t well-informed at all. Same goes for social media. If that’s your main source of news and information, you aren’t really informed at all.

Just ignore the political ads. If you are well-informed, you’re not the audience they are trying to reach. They are only there to evoke an emotional response. Don’t fall for it.

Vote for who you feel is the best candidate. Just make sure you are really informed and not just being manipulated by political campaign ads.

John Moore

Newton